Harvard School of Public Health (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Vegetables, as Socrates said, are our medicine. Nature gave us vegetables & fruits to energize our bodies, protect them from invading diseases and provide the necessary nutrients for life. Without them we are running on dirty and inefficient fuel. It is only a matter of time until our bodies break down. Then we live with disease or die.
Can anyone justify not eating plants? So much is at stake. Simply doing what grandma knew can improve your life substantially. Why risk so much?
The study goes on to say eat plenty of vegetables & fruits. What does plenty mean? More than most Americans eat. This is the single reason so many Americans are sick and die prematurely. It is NOT old age. It is bad fuel!
BLOOD PRESSURE CHECK (Photo credit: U.S. Army Korea (Historical Image Archive))
Food Matters on Facebook had an article by a Dr. Mercola on lowering high blood pressure without drugs. He mentions many dietary, exercise related and stress related life changing things you can do to naturally lower your blood pressure. Sound familiar? I talk about diet, stress, exercise , thinking and belief as epigenetic life changing factors in this BLOG. Our bodies evolved to respond to conditions around us. For the last million years or more changes were relatively slow. In modern times we have changed the environment we live in drastically. We exercise less, we are in constant stress, we eat processed foods, we eat the wrong things from a nutrient point of view, we tend more toward negative thoughts than positive ones, and we don’t believe in much lowering the placebo effect and increasing the nocebo effect. This is causing drastic epigenetic changes in our bodies that can lead to increased illness and early death.
Dr Mercola states one source of high blood pressure is a diet rich in grains and fructose. Americans eat way too many grains. Cereals (except oatmeal), sweets, breads, etc are all sugars or turn to sugar in our bodies. Diabetes can be caused by too much sugars in our diet. Diabetes and high blood pressure are linked. The great news is we all have a choice in life. No one is forced to eat wrong or not exercise or live a high stressed life! It’s your choice.We should be changing our life styles and teaching our kids what is really important in life. You can change your lifestyle and live a healthier and happier life. Just do it … NO EXCUSES!
Web MD says, “Job loss may raise the risk of heart attack”. WE have spoken a lot about stress and how it can have negative epigenetic triggers that cause disease and death. Our modern world has many levels of stress we didn’t have years ago. Learn to relax and calm your stress it may save your life. This holiday season should be a joyous time NOT a stressful one.
A medical student checking blood pressure using a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the Dr Gregor’s video that we have been discussing the few days, he says vegetarians and vegans have significantly lower blood pressure than does meat eaters. I can attest to this since I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, 12 years ago and decided to go vegetarian instead of take drugs. For 12 years I have had low blood pressure. 39 years ago we knew this by a study done at John Hopkins. The study shows in just 12 days of a vegan diet, your blood pressure is reduced by 6%.Is meat really so important to you that you are willing to die for it?
WebMD talks about Americans eating too much salt. It is NOT the salt shaker that gives us too much sodium (salt). It comes from other non-natural sources like processed foods. Most foods in boxes, cans, bags, etc contain salt and sugar. They usually have the natural fibers removed by the processing. Why do we eat these foods? We believe that cooking takes too long but that isn’t true. We can cook meals much quicker than running to a fast food restaurant. We can cook meals from fresh raw ingredients in about the same time as from a box, bag or can. If we eat some meals as raw foods, as we should, there is no cooking time. Our health is faltering because of the increased salt. Remember the big 3 no nos to good health: 1) Reduce salt intake, Reduce sugar intake and 3) reduce saturated fat intake (animal-based foods). Low fat, low sodium, low anything means the addition of something else like sugars. Eat what nature gave us, it has been at it a lot longer than man.
WebMD recently said Americans eat way too much salt. Our excessive salt is not coming from the salt shakers. About 75% of our salt intake comes from commercial foods. We are eating too much processed foods and it’s killing us. Excessive salt is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. This 75% intake of salt doesn’t even add flavor to the foods it’s in. It is mainly a preservative. Many people then add more salt on top of it for flavor. Eating real food, not from a box, bag or can, is healthy and adding a little salt for flavor is fine. Watch the hidden salts. They are lurking in the shadows everywhere.
Millions of Americans are overweight with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and on the verge of heart disease or even cancer. If you’re one of them, experts say that the chances are good that you could dramatically cut back on the number of medications you have to take daily or even transition off them entirely, if you make just a few lifestyle changes. WebMD talks about this choice. Doctors seldom tell patients about these choices because it is widely believed in the medical community that Americans can’t make these changes. It really is your choice to live a life of taking drugs and becoming sicker each year you service or to change your life to one of health and no drugs. You can reduce the risks of illness drastically by exercise, diet and reduce stress changes. As your illnesses decrease and your weight decreases you can reduce your medications (with your doctor’s help) and get to a point where you are medication free. We are being told that many illnesses can NOT be cured. You must take pills for the rest of your life! THIS IS NOT TRUE! Many new doctors are finding they can reverse and cure most of these diseases by lifestyle changes. Your doctor or the medical community can NOT change your lifestyle for you. They can only prescribe drugs. If you want to be healthy and drug free, you must decide to change your life. It is your choice and within your power to do so. The beauty of it is it’s free!
Buy The Book – Food For Thought – An Epigenetic Guide to Wellness, online at Amazon.com.
georgefebish
The Epigenetics Project Blog 